Pink Dove

Sometimes when I'm deciding on a craft project, I have to roll it all around in my head for a while before I actually start. Other times, I jump right in to a project that would work but isn't really what I was going for. Often, I don't know exactly what I'm going for. Such was the case yesterday. I have some baby yarn; the name of the color is Pink Dove. As if I don't love the name enough on its own, the yarn itself is beautiful -- a self-striping blend of pink, white, and silvery gray. I like both that the gray keeps it from being too pink (like that's possible!) and that it looks silver when the light hits it a certain way.

I kept trying to think of what to craft with it. I knew I wanted it to be a bit unique -- I may or may not have mentioned that I'm getting an Etsy page up and also have a booth at a shop downtown where I'm selling vintage things and can also sell my crafts -- but I just couldn't come up with the right thing. My usual rule of thumb (and probably not just mine) is to use simple (as in single color) yarns with complex patterns, and vice versa. A variegated yarn detracts from the complexity of stitches in a more complicated piece. But wanting to get started on something -- other than staring at the yarn -- I did several rows of a V-stitch baby blanket. As I crocheted, I thought about many things, one of them being that I was unimpressed with how my project was looking. Then it hit me: The perfect blanket for this yarn would be a round ripple, sometimes known as a twelve-pointed star. It sounds difficult, but it really isn't; I've made several before, including one for myself that (in the winter) I keep spread out over my bedspread.

It took some time, but I found a perfect pattern. Now, as I should be revamping my resume and preparing for my class starting next week, I'm going to rip out the start of the "bomb" project and start on the new. (The weather is gorgeous but tree pollen is so bad I can't walk from the house to the car without having a sneezing fit! Otherwise I'd be gardening.) I've actually already accomplished quite a lot from my "have-to" list and will finish the rest on Wednesday. And so, without guilt, I'm turning on some music and getting down to business. After all, this is work too, in a way. Assuming I sell my projects. Even if I don't, it's a relaxing way to spend the afternoon.